"Women Hold Up Half the Sky"

You can say a lot of things about communists, socialists, Bolsheviks, and Maoists, but these movements do generally get one thing right: valuing women's social and economic input. In the words of Mao Tse-Tung, "women hold up half the sky". I don't make a habit of quoting the man who left a trail of blood in the Cultural Revolution and who left millions dead in the misguided agricultural polices of the Great Leap Forward. However, I will grant that he got one thing right with this quote. Women do hold up half the sky as they make up half of the population, and society as a whole should recognize this fact.

Tomorrow, April 6, there will be massive strikes in Egypt, protesting the current economic crisis that prevents the average Egyptian from making ends meet. Originally planned by the textile mill 'Ghazl al-Mahalla, thousands of other workers have pledged to also strike in solidarity with al-Mahalla, which also happens to be the largest textile mill in the Middle East. Since the summer of 2007, the workers of al-Mahalla have been locked in a battle for their rights with the Labor Ministr. Coming at a time of increasing political instability and economic crisis, many Egyptians see their fate, and the fate of their totalitarian government, resting on the shoulders of these average workers. And here is the catch: many of these workers are women.

These female workers are not the stereotype (Western or Egyptian) of the Arab woman. They are strong, standing shoulder to shoulder with the male counterparts, demanding their rights. This overheard quote has been surfacing around Egyptian blogs, proudly displaying women's outspoken participation with the workers movement:

A Mahallah male activist describing the role of the women in the past strikes and the upcoming 6 April strike: … so these ladies…
A Mahallah female activist interrupting: Don’t call us ladies! we are workers and we are proud of it. we work in the factory, we work at home and we work in the farm, we are workers!

Women in Egypt are raising their voices, not necessarily in the specific tones of feminism, but in the united tones workers rights, for men and women. I once heard Haifa al-Kaylani, Chairman of the Arab International Women's Forum, mention "I'm not a feminist, I'm an economist." Women are half of the potential work force, half of the economic energy of a country, and currently an enormous resource which Egypt has yet to fully tap. This isn't about exploiting that resource, its about appreciating its power. The women of Mahalla, along with their brothers, can no longer be ignored. Tomorrow Egypt will see hear the voices of its workers, and will see the strength of those who hold up half the sky.

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